i´m from argetina
and my literature teacher, send me to do
an analysis about "the sick rose" william blake
of 3 paragraphs, i have to include, denotation, connotation of words and expressions, diction, tone, atmosphere or mood, theme, imagery, persona
is for 2 days
and i dont now what to do, beause i was absnt thata day when she said it
please help, what to include or do
thnx
naty

First read it a few time's. then figeur out if it's sad or not and then talk about it (describe it as you're talking). Hope I helped. Good luck.

Blake is hard work, isn't he?

Here's a website you might try:

mb.sparknotes.com/mb.epl?b=783&p=4 .

When you get there, put in "rose" as a search term.

Let us know how you get on!

Stephen

Click on Search above your message, type in the title, click on "all dates" and you will see some discussion that might help.

"i have to include, denotation, connotation of words and expressions, diction, tone, atmosphere or mood, theme, imagery, persona ... "


Tough class. Are you sure you wrote the assignment down correctly? I mean, there are only eight lines in the little bugger.

Wow, someone else studying William Blake!

I've wrote half an essay on the psychological aspects of Blake's poetry, which included an analysis on 'The Sick Rose'. I won't bother writing out my ideas again so I'll just paste the relevant bits here:

The very title of ‘The Sick Rose’ from the songs of experience already conveys unhealthy connotations. The rose is traditionally a literary symbol of love and desire, and being described as ‘sick’ suggests that the sexual desires of love is disheartened in some way, that the individual is suffering from an internal psychological sickness.
The poem describes an ‘invisible worm’ manifesting itself on the ‘crimson joy’ of the flowerbed, representative of a lover’s bed. The worm is intrinsic with the process of decay and is also a symbol of masculine sexuality. The fact that the worm is invisible and that it ‘flies in the night, in the howling storm’ suggests a mortified secrecy being performed between two lovers that is ironically and slowly killing their love; hence the decaying rose. The final two lines of the poem reinforce this idea as it describes a dark secret love destroying the life of the rose, with the rose denoting the spiritual well being of love.
From a less literal perspective, the ‘invisible worm’ could be a personification of religious views on sex; that the ‘invisible worm’ of religion discreetly destroys human desires and passions, and the beauty of love as it slowly eats away at the symbolic rose. Here, the rose can also be seen as a young girl, innocent and pure in her desires, being slowly corrupted with experience as she is forced to suppress her desires being further influenced by the religious morals and teachings of society as she matures. Nevertheless, both interpretations suggest ‘lovesickness’; a sad pining desire for love (particularly the passionate sexual side), being languished by the shame and secrecy the contemporary culture has attached to it.
This poem echoes a famous quote from Blake, stating, “Prisons are built with stones of Law, brothels with bricks of Religion”. The ‘brothel’ can be compared to the decaying, corrupted rose, with the worm engaging in sexual passions on ‘Thy bed of crimson joy’ under the secrecy of the ‘howling storm’. This interpretation implies the decaying ‘rose’ being a creation of the purist religious morals governing the society. Through the extended metaphor of the sick rose, Blake has portrayed the psychological anxieties and the pining away of desires as a direct result of secrecy and ultimately, the suppressing of sexual passions, emotions that Blake believed to have been a natural part of human existence that cannot be eliminated.

"Halloween is the only day of the year (apart from Christmas and Easter) when we celebrate the powers of evil"